CHALLENGES OF FUNCTIONING OF HEALTH SYSTEMS AND HEALTH INSURANCE IN THE POST-COVID ERA

Abstract

In the period before the Covid-19 pandemic, it seemed that the health and insurance systems of developed countries were extremely stable, functional and largely humanely organized. Constant investments in the field of health, the progress of medical research gave the impression of certainty and faith that health would be one of the most valuable categories of humanity in the future. The importance of health even reached the point that the election results, for example, in the USA in the second half of the 21st century, depended to a large extent on the health program policy. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has completely refuted these views and pointed to significant omissions, inflexibility, and even corruption when it comes to health insurance and the organization of health systems. Namely, the crisis has shown that in the EU there is no satisfactory cooperation between health systems and insurance of EU members, sufficient information of citizens about the rights and possibilities of cross-border health care, as well as clear legal form of using medical services outside the territory of the domicile state. The members of the EU, as well as those outside of it in Europe, each became well-fortified bastions where common European values ​​almost did not exist. Everyone fought individually as he knew and was able. The situation was no better in the USA either, where the values ​​of the famous “Obamacare” (entered into force in 2014 and introduced mandatory health insurance for the majority of US residents) were completely destroyed. Small and medium-sized companies began to suffer the greatest pressure, which, due to insolvency, were late in paying their employees’ health insurance, and in the middle of 2021, as many as 64% of employers in the USA reduced their health insurance coverage. As for the situation in the Republic of Serbia, the pandemic has shown that our health system is not as weak as we are ready to assess it. Although there is no connection between the state and private health sectors, the pandemic has shown all the flexibility and, under the circumstances, good organization. The credit goes mostly to the medical staff, who showed incredible sacrifice to keep the health system functioning. All this shows the absence of a global defense strategy against challenges that can threaten health and the human population. The world is completely unprepared to adequately resist the challenges that pandemics like Covid-19 can bring.